Automatic steam electric sadiron



May 9, 1950 s. BUTMAN AUTOMATIC STEAM ELECTRIC SADIRON 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Oct. 1, 1-945 0 j/ ,;lllllll mu FIG.

. INVENTOR. LOU/S S. BUTMA/V ATTORNEY May 9, 1950 s. BUTMAN 2,506,950

AUTOMATIC STEAM ELECTRIC SADIRON Filed Oct. 1, 1945 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR.

LOU/S- s. BUTMA/V ATTORNEY Patented May 9, 1950 UNITED STAT-E PATENT "OFFICE 2,506,950 AUTOMATIC "STEAM E E TRIC "SADIRON Louis 51. Butman, Merkel, Tex. Aspira i n were 1, 1945, "Seria N 619,601

"2 Claims.

- 1 My invention relates to an "automatic steam electric sad iron, more particularly to a sad iron for ironing clothes or thelike having steam gencrating means therein for dampening theclothe's while ironing the same; -.-c1 the-objects of invention are:

First, to provide a sad iron of this class which steams clothing while ironing the same, thereby saving time normally spent in sprinkling the clothes before ironing.

Second, to 'providea sad iron of this class having control means for regulating the monster steam issued throughth'e-sole plate thereof for various fabrics;

Third, to providea sad iron of this "class hav. ing a novel steam chamber heated by theheating elements of said sad iron for e'hic'iently'dampen ing the clothing being ironed;

Fourth, to provide sad iron of this class in which the steam chamber is very rapidl heated providing quick starting of tl'i e steam issuing from the ports in the sole plate of said sad iron;

Fifth, to provide a sad iron or thi i'cla 'ss in which the steam chamber supply tube is drained of its supply of water when *saidi-ron is placed uponthe-stand in a vertical position;

sixth, to provide a sad iron of this class havring novel steam manifoldscast-in the sole plate thereof; and

"Seventh, to provide a sad iron of this class which is very simple and economical of construction, efficient in its action, and iivhich will not readily deteriorate or get out of order.

With these and other objects in view as will appear hereinafter, my invention consists 'of "certain novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts and portions as will be hereinafter described in detail and particularly set forth in the appended claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawings and to the characters of reference thereon forming a part of this application in which:

Figure 1 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view of my automatic steam electric sad iron showing parts and portions in elevation to facilitate the illustration; Fig. 2 is a plan sectional view taken from the line 2-2 of Fig. 1 showing the steam chamber cover omitted and showing portions broken away to amplify the illustration; Fig. 3 is a bottom view of my automatic steam electric sad iron and Fig. 4 is a plan view thereof showing a portion of the handle broken away exposing the valve control knob.

Similar characters of reference refer to simi- 2 lar parts and portions throughout the several views'of'thedrawingsz' V 'Thesole plate I, reservoir 2, handle 3, Shell steam chamber 5, steam manifold 5, s'te'ani orts l; ,-heating elements t, valve 5-, tubes It to I? inclusive, reservoir plug It, valve control knob i5, electrical cord l6 and the steam chamber cover 4-1 constitute the principal parts and portions of my automatic steam electric sad iron.

'Thesole plate ijas shown inF-ig. 1 of the drawings is a cast member substantially in the-form of the conventional flat iron sole plate and is provided with a tubular steam manifold fitted therein consisting of threetubes t, as showie Fig. 2 of the drawings communicating at the front portion-tithe sole'plate l with the tube 1 3. This {steam manifold 6 is cast in the sole plate-l and communicating with the interior of this steam "manifold '6 are the ports 1 which areal ranged to issue steam from the interior of the steammanuoia 5 to the bottom surface of -the sole plate I. It will behere noted that these ports 1 ay be all tubulai members connected-to the steam manuoiu t and communicating with the interior thereof, or they may be drilled holes in rrrese e p ate "l and tubes was desired.

The tube 1'3 communicating with the steam manifold is connected in communicative relation with the" steam chamber 5 which is substan-v many square in cr'oss section structure arranged inU-shaped foim, as shown in Fig. 2 of the draw mg. i It will be notedthat the tube re communicates with one end bf the -"U --'sllape"cl steam chamber *5 whilst-he tube is communicates with'the 'interior thereof near the opposite end. The tube iii in connection with thevalve '5 is arranged to supply metered Water to the interior of the steam chamber 5.

The valve 9 is a substantially conventional valve and is supplied water by the tube !2 which extends into the reservoir 2 and downwardly near to the bottom thereof whereby water may be drained from the bottom reservoir to a level contiguous with the bottom of the steam chamber Communicating with the interior of the steam chamber 5 near the opposite end from the connection of the tube 53 is a tube H. This tube H is a steam equalizer tube extending to th upper portion of the reservoir 2 for equalizing the pressure of the steam in the steam chamber 5 with the water in the reservoir 2.

It will be noted that the angular relationship of the tube I ll relatively to the steam chamber 5 permits the drainage of water backwardly into the reservoir 2 when the iron is placed in a substantially vertical position when not in use.

When in operation the upper end Ila of the tube H is normally above the water level whereby the pressure of the steam in the steam chamber is conducted to the upper surface of the water in the reservoir 2 equalizing the back pressure through the valve 9 and connected tubes In and As shown in Fig. 1 of th drawings, the heating element is disposed between the sole plate I and the steam chamber 5 which is covered by the steam chamber cover I7. This heating element 8 is a substantially conventional fiat Nichrome wire heating element Wound on mica sheets and is properly insulated from the sole plate I by a sheet of mica on one side and is also insulated from the steam chamber 5 by a sheet of mica on the other side.

The diverging tubes of the steam manifold 6, as shown in Fig. 2 of the drawing conform to the rows of ports 7, as shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings, wherein the ports I which issue steam from the bottom of the sole plate I are arranged in three rows converging toward the forward end of the sole plate I, all as shown best in Figs. 2 and 3 of the drawings.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 4 of the drawings, the valve control knob 15 is provided to operate the valve 9 for regulating the needed amount of water passing into the steam chamber 5 sufficient to dampen various fabrics. The electric cord l6 passes out of the shell 4 at one side of the handle 3, all as shown best in Fig. 4 of the drawings.

Though I have shown and described a particular construction, combination and arrangement of parts and portions, I do not wish to be limited to the particular construction, combination and arrangement but desire to include in the scope of my invention, the construction, combination and arrangement substantially as set forth in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a sad iron of the class described, the combination of a sole plate, a steam manifold cast into said sole plate having three diverging portions extending from the forward end of said sole plate, port means in said sole plate communicating with the interior of said steam manifold and the lower surfaces of said sole plate, a heating element positioned at the upper side of said sole plate, a steam chamber in the form of a rectangular in cross section U-shaped member having enclosed ends and having its middle portion adjacent the forward apex portion of the sole plate,

a tube extending from one end of said manifold to one end of said steam chamber, the apex of said steam chamber being located over the point of juncture of the portions of said manifold, said manifold comprised of a middle portion and two outer portions which lie under the legs of said U -shaped steam chamber, another tube connected near the opposite end of said steam chamber and communicating with the interior thereof, a valve in connection with said second mentioned tube and a water reservoir communicating with said valve.

2. In a sad iron of the class described, the combination of a sole plate, a steam manifold cast into said sole plate having three diverging portions extending from the forward end of said sole plate. port means in said sole plate communicating with the interior of said steam manifold and the lower surfaces of said sole plate, a heating element positioned at the upper side of said sole plate, a steam chamber in the form of a rectangular in cross section U-shaped member having enclosed ends and having its middle portion adjacent the forward apex portion of the sole plate, a tube extending from said steam manifold to one end of said steam chamber, the apex of said steam chamber being located over the point of juncture of the portions of said manifold, said manifold comprised of a middle portion and two outer portions which lie under the legs of said U-shaped steam chamber, another tube connected near the opposite end of said steam chamber and communicating with the interior thereof, a valve in connection with said second mentioned tube, a water reservoir communicating with said valve, and a pressure equalizer tube communicating with the interior of said steam chamber and the uppermost portion of said water reservoir.

LOUIS S. BUTMAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Re. 21,986 Wallace Dec. 23, 1941 1,494,113 Hoffman May 13, 1924 1,516,923 Hofiman Nov. 25, 1924 1,625,535 Graf Apr. 19. 1927 1,683,145 Slonaker Sept. 4, 1928 1,793,750 Sayles Feb. 24, 1931 1,962,940 Schaefer June 12, 1934 2,278,370 Hoffman Mar. 31, 1942 2,295,341 Finlayson Sept. 8, 1942 2,387,281 Morton Oct. 23, 1945 

